Top lot in Bonhams 19th century sale makes over double the pre-sale estimate

Albert Chevallier Tayler's The council of three sells for £118,850. Photo: Bonhams.

LONDON.- The Council of Three an intimate painting of 19th Century life by Albert Chevallier Tayler RBC made £118,850, more than double the pre-sale estimate, at Bonhams 19th Century Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours sale, yesterday 23rd January. The painting was among several lots that exceeded their estimates, in a sale which realised over £1.3 million.

In a busy saleroom bidders competed for the top lots in the sale with The Council of Three finally going to a private UK buyer via a telephone bid. The painting is an important rediscovery, having been in private hands since the 1930s. It is an atmospheric scene showing three women chatting and is a spectacular example of Taylers early use of a square-brush technique. The Council of Three epitomises the naturalistic ambitions of the Newlyn School.

Archibald Thorburns striking paintings of game birds were also highly sought-after with a detailed watercolour of a Cock and hen pheasant in a woodland clearing from 1928 making £63,650 against a pre-sale estimate of £30,000  50,000. Never before seen on the auction market, the painting evokes the splendour of the shooting season and shows the magnificence of the birds plumage.

Among the other highlights of the sale were Walter Frederick Osbornes Milking Time in St Marnock's Byre, which made £48,850 and A morning ride by Heywood Hardy, which far exceeded its estimate, selling for £44,450 against a pre-sale estimate of £12,000  18,000.

Charles OBrien, Director of 19th Century Pictures said, The sale was a great success with some of the top lots far exceeding their pre-sale estimates. The Council of Three is a superb snapshot of daily life in during the 19th Century that provides a great insight into how people lived at that time. There was a great deal of competition to secure the work, which I hope will give much pleasure to the new owner. The overall success of the sale, with 70% of lots sold, demonstrates the continuing strength of the 19th Century Paintings market, despite these uncertain times.